Convicted D.C. Sniper Shares His Story 10 Years After Murder Spree

VIRGINIA BEACH, UNITED STATES: (FILES) Sniper suspect Lee Boyd Malvo (C) is escorted by deputies as he is brought into court to be identified by a witness during the murder trial for sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad in courtroom 10 at the Virginia Beach Circuit Court 22 October, 2003, in Virginia Beach, Virginia. A Cheasapeake, Virginia jury started deliberations 17 December in the murder trial of Malvo, the teenage sniper suspect who could face the death penalty if convicted of one of10 fatal shootings that terrorized the Washington area. Malvo, who was a 17 year-old minor at the time of the crimes was tried as an adult. (Photo credit: DAVIS TURNER/AFP/Getty Images)

(Photo credit: DAVIS TURNER/AFP/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (WJZ)—Monday marks the 10th anniversary of the sniper murder spree that left 10 dead across Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia.

Alex DeMetrick has a look back at the killings and the killers.

During 21 days in October 2002, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo murdered and injured at will.

In a rare interview, Malvo talked about the killing spree and its aftermath.

The shots didn’t just seem to come out of nowhere. They could come from anywhere. Ten years ago, 13 people were shot in the sniper attacks, and 10 died.

People were murdered while pumping gas or shopping or mowing a lawn. The randomness was terrifying.

“Everyone is frightened. This has got to stop,” one woman said in 2002.

It finally did with the arrests of Muhammad and 17-year-old Malvo in Maryland.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Malvo details how he was brainwashed by Muhammad, saying, “He picked me because he knew he could mold me. It was a military mission. He told me to do something, and I did it.”

“People don’t go around killing people. Normal people don’t do it. I think he’s a psychopath. I really do. But I think he’s responsible for what he did,” LaRuffa said.

Muhammad was executed in Virginia in 2009.

He never found his ex-wife Mildred, who fled with their children to Maryland and launched Muhammad’s plan.

“His plan was he was going to create a diversion. I would be one of the victims. He had to make it look like a random shooting,” Muhammad said.

Like the bullet that killed Ted Franklin’s wife Linda at a Virginia Home Depot.

Malvo was looking at Franklin’s eyes through binoculars.

He now says “it’s the worst sort of pain I have ever seen in my life. You feel like the worst piece of scum on the planet. I was a monster.”

Malvo is now 27. He will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Malvo’s sentence is being carried out in maximum security. He spends 23 hours a day in his cell, and he has no contact with any other prisoners.

Alex DeMetrick

Alex DeMetrick has been a general assignment reporter with WJZ Eyewitness News since September 1984.
Alex began his journalism career in California.
Alex has received many awards from United Press International and The Associated Press. He...